Upaniṣads · Kaṭha 2.7
॥
Devanāgarī
श्रवणायापि बहुभिर् यो न लभ्यः शृण्वन्तो ऽपि बहवो यं न विद्युः ।
आश्चर्यो वक्ता कुशलो ऽस्य लब्धा आश्चर्यो ज्ञाता कुशलानुशिष्टः
Transliteración (IAST)
śravaṇāyāpi bahubhir yo na labhyaḥ śṛṇvanto 'pi bahavo yaṃ na vidyuḥ /
āścaryo vaktā kuśalo 'sya labdhā āścaryo jñātā kuśalānuśiṣṭaḥ
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
श्रवणायśravaṇāyafor the hearing (from √śru — 'to hear'); to be heard; for the tidings
अपिapieven; also
बहुभिःbahubhiḥby many; for many
यःyaḥwhich; he
नnanot; no
लभ्यःlabhyaḥis attainable; we obtain
शृण्वन्तःśṛṇvantaḥhearing; even those who hear
अपिapieven; also
बहवःbahavaḥmany; numerous
यम्yamwhom; it
नnanot; no
विद्युःvidyuḥthey know; they realise
आश्चर्यःāścaryaḥhe is a wonder (āścarya — 'a marvel'); he is marvellous; he is astonishing
वक्ताvaktāthe one who speaks (from √vac); the proclaimer; the teller
कुशलःkuśalaḥskilful; adept
अस्यasyait; of this knowledge
लब्धाlabdhāthe obtainer (from √labh — 'to attain'); the attainer; the winner [of knowledge]
आश्चर्यःāścaryaḥhe is a wonder (āścarya — 'a marvel'); he is marvellous; he is astonishing
ज्ञाताjñātāknowing; one who has known
कुशलानुशिष्टःkuśalānuśiṣṭaḥinstructed by an adept (kuśala-anuśiṣṭa); taught by a skilful [teacher]; trained by one who knows
Traducción
Many do not even get to hear of Him; many, even having heard, do not know Him. Wondrous is the one who speaks of Him, adept the one who attains; wondrous the one who knows, instructed by an adept.
Versión
5b6d70d94b6e · publicado 26 jul 2026, 21:13:03 UTC
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A verse on the rarity of the path, built as a funnel: to hear — to understand — to speak — to attain. śravaṇāyāpi bahubhir yo na labhyaḥ — "to many He is not granted even for hearing": millions live out a life without once meeting so much as the tidings of the Ātman. śṛṇvanto 'pi bahavo yaṁ na vidyuḥ — "and hearing, they do not know Him": hearing without a prepared heart slips off like water from a stone.
āścaryo vaktā — "wondrous is the one who speaks": he who can speak of That from which "speech turns back" is himself a wonder; kuśalo 'sya labdhā — "adept is the one who obtains"; āścaryo jñātā kuśalānuśiṣṭaḥ — "wondrous the knower, instructed by an adept". Note: the knower is defined through his teacher — kuśala-anuśiṣṭa; in this chain there are no self-made men, knowledge lives in pairs of teacher and pupil, and every such pair that comes about is an event of cosmic rarity.
The Bhagavad-gītā (2.29) echoes this verse almost word for word: āścarya-vat paśyati kaścid enam… "as at a marvel one looks upon him, as of a marvel another speaks, as of a marvel a third hears — and even having heard, none knows him." The rarity here is not elitism but a measure of the resistance of the material: of all beings only man can ask about the eternal; of those who ask only a few seek; of those who seek only they who have met a seeing man arrive. The more precious, then, is the moment in which the reader of the Kaṭha stands: the tidings are here; the hearing is already happening.